Only 108 of 496 Gubat sa Ciudad guests traced so far, says DILG

Only 108 of the 496 guests of Gubat sa Ciudad Resort, which was caught operating despite the ban, have been contacted so far, according to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Thursday.

Of the 108, only 72 have undergone antigen test for possible COVID-19 infection, said DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya during the day's Laging Handa briefing. No one has tested positive so far.

"I must admit na napakahirap po talaga nitong pagko-contact trace dahil sa kapabayaan ng resort na ito [it's really difficult to conduct contract tracing because of the resort's negligence]" Malaya said.

Malaya said the resort's management not only defied COVID-19 quarantine protocols by operating but also failed to require their guests to fill out contact tracing forms.

Malaya said of the resort's guests, 180 were from Caloocan City, 11 from Bulacan, three from Malabon, five from Manila, 26 from Quezon City, and seven from Valenzuela City.

All of these areas are under the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) protocol when the incident happened last week. MECQ bans leisure businesses from operating, including resorts.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque has earlier said that contact tracing has been the "weakest point" in the government’s COVID-19 response.

Malaya, however, insisted otherwise by citing that 7,000 additional contact tracers have been hired since January in addition to the existing over 200,000 individuals doing contact tracing.

“We in the DILG have never believed that our contact tracing is the weakest link,” he said.

“Sa tingin ko po, ang weakest link natin ay ang prevention. Kaya nga po tayo nanghuhuli ng mga kababayan natin na hindi sumusunod sa minimum health standards dahil nandoon po ang maraming violations,” Malaya added.

(I think our weakest link is prevention. That is the reason why we are apprehending people who defy minimum health standards because there are many violators.)

The government's contact tracing app, StaySafe PH, is yet to be fully operational more than a year after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country. —KBK, GMA News